The source of the regiment's name is uncertain. In 1725, following the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, General George Wade was authorised by George II to form six "watch" companies to patrol the Highlands of Scotland, three from Clan Campbell, one from Clan Fraser, one from Clan Munro and one from Clan Grant. These were to be "employed in disarming the Highlanders, preventing depredations, bringing criminals to justice, and hindering rebels and attainted persons from inhabiting that part of the kingdom." The force was known in Gaelic as Am Freiceadan Dubh, "the dark" or "black watch".[2]

This epithet may have come from the uniform plaids of dark tartan with which the companies were provided. Other theories have been put forward; for instance, that the name referred to the "black hearts" of the pro-government militia who had sided with the "enemies of true Highland spirit",[3] or that it came from their original duty in policing the Highlands, namely preventing "blackmail" (Highlanders demanding extortion payments to spare cattle herds).[4]

The 1/4th (City of Dundee) Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the Bareilly Brigade in the 7th (Meerut) Division March 1915 for service on the Western Front and, following heavy losses at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 and the Battle of Festubert in May 1915,[8] amalgamated with 2nd Battalion in September 1915.[7] The 1/5th (Angus and Dundee) Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 24th Brigade in the 8th Division for service on the Western Front.[7] It also saw action at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 and the Battle of Festubert in May 1915.[8] The 1/6th (Perthshire) Battalion and the 1/7th (Fife) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 153rd Brigade in the 51st (Highland) Division in May 1915 for service on the Western Front.[7] They saw action at the Battle of the Ancre Heights in October 1916.[8]

The 9th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 44th Brigade in the 15th (Scottish) Division in July 1915 for service on the Western Front.[7] It suffered over 700 wounded or killed-in-action at the Battle of Loos in September 1915 and then suffered heavy losses again at the Second Battle of the Somme in August 1918.[8] The 10th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 77th Brigade in the 26th Division in September 1915 for service on the Western Front.[7] It moved to Salonika in November 1915 and took part in operations in the Balkans in 1916.[8]

A number of authors state that the regiment was given the nickname "Ladies from Hell" ("Die Damen aus der Hölle") by German troops, allegedly on account of their kilts and fighting qualities.[9][10]

The 4th Battalion landed in France in September 1939 as part of the 153rd Brigade in the 51st (Highland) Division for service with the British Expeditionary Force and then took part in the Dunkirk evacuation in June 1940.[11]

The 5th Battalion landed in North Africa as part of the 153rd Brigade in the 51st (Highland) Division and fought at the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942. It also took part in the Normandy landings, while attached to the 3rd Parachute Brigade, in June 1944 and saw action at the Battle for Caen followed by the Battle of Bréville later that month. It saw combat again at the Battle of the Falaise Pocket in August 1944 and the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945.[11]

The 6th Battalion landed in France in September 1939 as part of the 154th Brigade in the 51st (Highland) Division for service with the British Expeditionary Force and then took part in the Dunkirk evacuation in June 1940. It moved to North Africa in Spring 1943 and then on to Italy in September 1943 where it took part in the Battle of Monte Cassino in Spring 1944.[11]

The 7th Battalion landed in North Africa as part of the 154th Brigade in the 51st (Highland) Division and fought at the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942. It also took part in the Normandy landings in June 1944, the Battle for Caen later that month and the Battle of the Falaise Pocket in August 1944. It later saw action at the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945.[11]

During the 2003 Iraq War, the Black Watch fought during Operation Telic in the initial attack on Basra, and during its deployment, the unit suffered a single fatality.[16] The following year, the Black Watch was dispatched to Iraq again, as part of 4 (Armoured) Brigade. On 12 August, a soldier from the regiment was killed as a result of an improvised explosive device (IED).[17] In October, the Black Watch was at the centre of political controversy after the United States Army requested British forces to be moved further north, outside of the British-controlled Multi-National Division (South East), to replace forces temporarily redeployed for the Second Battle of Fallujah. Despite objections in Parliament, the deployment went ahead. Based at Camp Dogwood, located between Fallujah and Karbala, in an area later dubbed the "Triangle of Death", the Black Watch came under sustained insurgent attack from mortars and rockets. On 29 October, during the journey to their new base, a Black Watch soldier was killed in a road accident.[18] On 4 November, three soldiers and an interpreter were killed by a car bomb at a check point,[19] and on 8 November, another soldier was killed: the high-profile nature of the deployment caused a magnification of these events back home in Britain.[20]

On 24 June 2009, it was reported that elements of the battalion numbering about 350 troops carried out one of the largest air assault operations of the NATO troops in Afghanistan, named Operation Panther's Claw,[23] by deploying into and attacking a Taliban stronghold located near Bābājī (باباجی ), north of Lashkar Gah.[24] The operation commenced on 19 June just before midnight.[23] After a number of combat engagements with the insurgents, the soldiers of the battalion secured three main crossing points: the Lui Mandey Wadi crossing, the Nahr-e-Burgha canal and the Shamalan canal.[25] Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Cartwright, Commanding Officer of The Black Watch battalion, was reported saying that this operation established a firm foothold in what was the last remaining Taliban area controlled in the southern Helmand Province.[26] The location of the Taliban force in the area had allowed it to conduct attacks on the A01 highway, a major national route connecting Kandahar and Herat. During 22 June, troops of the battalion also "found 1.3 tonnes of poppy seed and a number of improvised explosive devices and anti-personnel mines before they could be laid."[23] Analysis by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation revealed the haul to be of mung beans, not poppy seed.[27]

Al Foreman, British lightweight boxing champion, assigned as a non-combat drummer boy at the end of WWI at age 14, very brief service. Later received Distinguished Flying Cross with Royal Air Force in WWII.

1. awarded 1909 for services of 42nd Regiment.
2. awarded 1914 for services of 42nd Regiment.
3. awarded 1910 for service of 42nd Regiment.
4. awarded 1951 for service of 42nd Regiment.
5. awarded 1889 for service of 73rd Regiment.
6. awarded 1882 for service of 73rd Regiment.

Canada (from 1862) has its own Black Watch, being raised as the 5th Battalion of the Canadian Militia, being renamed by 1914 as the 5th Regiment (Royal Highlanders of Canada).[33] It adopted its current title, The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada, prior to the Second World War, and saw action in both world wars.[34]

When wearing the kilt, it is customary for troops to "go regimental" or "military practice", wearing no underwear.[35][36] In 1997, a Black Watch soldier received wide press exposure because of windy conditions during a military ceremony in Hong Kong.[35]

Anthems associated with the regiment include "Wha Saw the Forty-Second", ("Wha saw the Forty Twa") a reworking of the Jacobite song "Wha Wadna Fecht For Charlie",[37] and "Twa Recruitin' Sergeants", another ditty.[38]

^Robert Douglas Pinkerton (1918), Ladies from Hell, New York: The Century Co., p. 76, OCLC1907457, It was perhaps seven or eight hundred yards from our trenches to the German line, nearly half a mile, and over this space went the Ladies from Hell, as the Germans call the Scottishers.

^Riguidel, Lt., Donna (7 July 2010). "Queens' Own Camerons History Made With History Book Presentation". National Defence and the Canadian Forces. Department of National Defence (Canada). "Ladies from Hell" was a nickname given to kilted regiments during the First World War, by the Germans that faced them in the trenches (Die Damen aus der Hölle).Missing or empty |url= (help);|access-date= requires |url= (help)

Anton, James (2007). Royal Highlander : a soldier of H. M. 42nd (Royal) Highlanders during the Peninsular, South of France and Waterloo Campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars. [U.K.]: Leonaur Ltd. ISBN978-1-84677-223-8.

Durie, William (2012). The British Garrison Berlin 1945 - 1994 : a pictorial historiography of the British occupation. Berlin: Vergangenheitsverl. ISBN978-3-86408-068-5.